India… Part Two

It's looking like each part will be an area or place we stay but who knows how I will continue about India.
Varkala, oh, Varkala. You are beautiful, you will be missed, and I definitely recommend it to people wanting to get away to somewhere quiet. We are going up the Arabian coast towards the end of its off-season so that may explain the quietness of Varkala but whatever the explanation; it is laid-back and quiet in this area. We arrived early, jumped in a taxi, and arrived at our bamboo hut. It had the usual, two twin beds with an extra bed thrown in for the third person, a nice bathroom, mosquito netting, small porch outside, and a fan. Simple and exactly what we wanted.

Varkala is a smaller town that has a cliff-side sea side. It has small patches of beach down from the cliffs and, while we were there, perfect beach weather. It was nice in the morning, warmer in the afternoon, and warm with the whisper of coolness at night. We ate more western style food while we were there but did sample quite a bit of their seafood. Freshly caught fish and delicious prawns picked and prepared with local spices, all for the price of 4-6 dollars, including chips and a salad. The last night we had a brain fart and decided to go with pizza instead of the seafood but it was good enough. I also splurged a little and had a BLT, oh America, I miss you sometimes!

I am not sure what it is though, but it seems every place we have visited has been a couple's paradise. Every place in Sri Lanka, the foreigners were all paired up. This would be fine if they were social couples but for the most part everyone kept to themselves. A part of traveling is meeting other travelers but we have not had that much luck on that front. Oh well, hopefully Goa will be better in the foreign relations part.

While in Varkala, I did make a friend though. Aisha. She sold clothes, jewelry, blankets, sheets, basically everything a tourist would like to buy. And buy I did. She introduced herself one night as we were walking by and I started a conversation with her. She made me promise to come back the next day to 'just look' at her stuff. Of course I went back the next day and walked out with two new shirts and a desire for a LOT more. She is a wonderful saleswoman. She was incredibly nice and helpful though and was honest with us. If you visit Varkala, look her up, and tell her I say hi.

This led to somewhat of a 'shopping spree' and later bought anklets and a bad henna experience. I kept seeing people with henna on their hands and really wanted it as well. But being gullible and not the most confrontational person, I was suckered in to a henna situation that fortunately, mostly washed off that evening. Oh well, you live and learn. I do need to stand up for myself a little more when it comes to hustlers. I think that people are good and genuine, and I still think that is true in most situations, but I should probably be more careful. 

We also went on a canoe trip outside of Varkala on the backwaters of Kerala, mainly around a small village where people either worked in the cashew factory or digging up sand. Our canoe guide was incredibly nice and kept repeating my name when he would ask a question or make a statement. It was SO peaceful and quiet. I don't think I could live in that village because every once in a while I like to blast my music while dancing/cooking/cleaning/homework… and if you were to play anything louder than a whisper all of your neighbors would hear! It was amazing how quiet it was!

We kept seeing children walking around in their school uniforms in the middle of the day. We asked about it and he said there was a strike going on. Apparently it was a students' strike with something involving bus fares. We never got the full story but he said that if the teachers strike there would be a big problem but since it is just the students, there is not a problem. Interesting, I have never heard of primary or secondary (elementary, middle, or high school) striking. It would be interesting to see in a students' strike in America.

This morning was our exit from Varkala and now we are on a 20 hour train ride up to Goa. We don't really have a plan for Goa and tried calling around to find a place but to no avail. Apparently with it still being in monsoon season for this region, most places (especially the bamboo huts on the beach) won't be built up until the end of October. So, we are about a month early but it should be good.